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Fayum Mummy Portrait of a Middle-Aged Man*

Image credit: Freud Museum London

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Notes

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Portraits such as this one acted as a ‘death mask’ to be bound to their subject’s mummified body before burial. Wealthy Egyptians wanted their portraits to appear as realistic as possible to preserve their image after death. The man in this portrait is unknown. The portrait is unusual in that it shows its subject in middle age, whereas mummy portraits of this type more commonly show their subjects at a younger age. The vivid colours were made from hot beeswax mixed with coloured pigments painted onto a wooden board. The painting’s realistic style is more in keeping with Greco-Roman artistic traditions than Egyptian ones. Sigmund Freud was a great collector of Egyptian art and he bought this painting from the Austrian art dealer Theodor Graf.

Freud Museum London

London

Title

Fayum Mummy Portrait of a Middle-Aged Man*

Date

AD 250–300

Medium

tempera on wood

Measurements

H 34 x W 23 cm

Accession number

4946

Acquisition method

acquired by Sigmund Freud

Work type

Painting

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Freud Museum London

20 Maresfield Gardens, London, Greater London NW3 5SX England

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